Concord Music Group News

NEWS 11 Jun 2008

SERGIO MENDES’ New Album Encanto (“Enchantment”) Quickly Lands At #1 on iTunes’ List of Top Latin Albums - While Also Notching The #2 Spot On CMJ’s World Music Chart

Released This Week, Encanto Is A Quintessential Summer Album That Finds The Legendary Sergio Mendes Embracing His Brazilian Roots In Collaborations With Special Guests Such As Carlinhos Brown, Juanes, Natalie Cole, Herb Alpert, Lani Hall, will.i.am, Fergie, Siedah Garret, Ledisi & More.

"The music is as sunny, colorful and sexy as the album cover... an album overflowing with happy, richly arranged tunes that will enlighten your summer" - La Onda Tropical

"...the Brazilian bossa nova master teams with Will.i.am on a collection of summery updates of the classics, as well as new tracks. Updating such well-known songs as Antonio Carlos Jobim's ‘Waters of March' is a great proposition for exposing the music to new audiences... Standouts include Juanes' bright, infectious chorus on ‘Y Vamos Ya'; tight bossa jam ‘Odo-Ya' featuring Carlinhos Brown; and Brasil '66 alum Lani Hall's wistful vocal accompanied by Herb Alpert's trumpet on ‘Dreamer." - Billboard

"Encanto (Enchantment), recorded in Rio de Janeiro and Bahia, features even more all-stars, with an international cast...Throughout, Mendes's finessed Fender Rhodes provides fills and thrills with bop-ish brevity while he gives us the best of both hemisphere."- Village Voice

"modern Brazilian jazz-fusion with an array of excellent musicians... will.i.am adapts his style well to urban and Brazilian forms... bandmate Fergie, doing ‘The Look of Love' is [a] career highlight"- All Music

"[Sergio Mendes] incarnates Brazilian music for millions... Encanto has a much more Brazilian and mellow, melodic feel than its heavily hip-hop predecessor... judging by the mostly young and exuberant crowd that danced across the front and down the aisles for Mendes' set [at the JVC Jazz Festival in Miami], the pianist and musician deserves the title... Not many sixties stars can attract that many 20-something Brazilians, African-Americans, Cubans, Anglos and who knows what other ethnicities and get them hip-shaking and screaming" - Miami Herald

"It's easy to be cynical about the now-common practice of pairing veteran artists with a variety of young movers and shakers. But as proven on Sergio Mendes' 2006 Timeless, the concept can generate magic. [Encanto] finds the Brazilian legend teamed with another lineup of superb guests, and the results are just as transcendent...Encanto sparkles with samba rhythms spiced with hip-hop grooves and shimmery pop melodies." - Performing Songwriter

"Sergio Mendes helped introduce bossa nova to the U.S.... 2006's Timeless, revamped the genre.... His new album, Encanto, is another collaboration with will.i.am, but it has a more traditional feel... It's clear that Mendes wanted to get back to his roots...'Funky Bahia' neatly combines funk and tropical sounds from the coastal state, particularly the heavy percussion and smooth chanting chorus... Encanto's mix of hip-hop, tropical grooves, & classic remakes should keep Mendes' fans, old and new, happy all summer." - Washington City Paper

"4 ½ Stars... an album that features one terrific international artist after another."- About.com